james bond

First & Last

The six actors that have portrayed 007 in the official movies have changed since their first and last on-screen appearances. Below, you can see each actor’s first and last appearances as James Bond.

Sean Connery as James Bond at the beginning of Dr. No (1962) and Sean Connery as James Bond and Jill St. John as Tiffany Case at the end of Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

The end credits of The Spy Who Loved Me says that For Your Eyes Only is the next movie

But what about Moonraker?

Moonraker (1979)

The end credits of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) says that For Your Eyes Only (1981) is the next movie

Eon Productions jumped the gun!

James Bond (Roger Moore) in a San Francisco fire truck in A View To A Kill (1985)

Although the fire engine chase in A View To A Kill (1985) is over-the-top and a bit eye-roll inducing, I did enjoy when the sleepy bridge operator attempts to stop James Bond (Roger Moore) and Stacy Sutton (Tanya Roberts) in their tracks.

Check the replay

Die Another Day (2002)

This training scene from Die Another Day (2002) was pretty sweet. Not often do we get insight into 007’s training regimen, but here the audience is immersed in it perfectly. I remember thinking this was a dream sequence when I saw it in the theater, and aside from the jarring image of a dead Moneypenny at her desk with a gunshot wound to the head, I knew it was a farce when Bond’s bullet hit M’s hostage-taker’s arm and did no damage.

Gate crasher

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Ouch! This stunt had to have hurt George Lazenby at the start of this fight sequence from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). Maybe a concussion? Whiplash?

After Bond returns to his suite 423 to see Tracy, he quickly finds himself in the middle of a fight and expertly jumps right in. Although the fight is a bit clunky and has that 1960’s sped-up feel (I guess they did that for effect back in those days), I do like the end where the defeated henchman shows signs of life but quickly gives back up and passes out. The decor and post -filled pony walls in this scene are an eyesore, like a lot of the visuals from this time period and movie, and I’m afraid the “gate crasher” quip falls a bit flat.

Discipline, 007. Discipline.

Goldfinger (1964)

It’s surprising to see James Bond (Sean Connery) show some level-headedness in Goldfinger (1964) when Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) honks and aggressively passes him on the roadway. Just as 007 is about to floor it and throw into high gear, his better angels overcome the temptation and he keeps his focus on the task at hand: tracking Goldfinger. It’s a rare occurrence to see Bond show such restraint, and refer to himself as 007 in the third person, for that matter.

I’ll do anything for a woman with a knife

Licence To Kill (1989)

This scene from Licence To Kill (1989) is easily the most bizarre and awkward of the Dalton era. On Della and Felix Leiter’s wedding day, Bond and Della cavort around the wedding reception in a drunken stupor, almost as if they’re the betrothed themselves.

It starts off innocently enough with them falling into the room with the wedding cake, but their subsequent kisses are most definitely *not* innocuous and not innocent pecks on the cheek. I’d argue they are almost passionate. Did Bond and Della have a previous fling?

Although I wasn’t married in the 1980’s when this movie was released, I’m a married American and I’ve never heard of the “custom” where the bride kisses the best man. Did I miss the memo on that? This does not sound like a great custom. Just weird.